Liturgy and eucharist – Part XV

Last updated on: April 25, 2017 at 11:46 am by Gerald McDermott

Liturgy and eucharist – Part XV 2017-04-25T11:46:12-04:00 Gerald McDermott

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Paul F. Bradshaw, The Search for the Origins of Christian Worship

Ministry, ordination, and the coming of Christendom

193 In the 20th c. German scholars thought the apostolic church had a purely charismatic ministry which eventually gave way to the threefold ordained ministry (bishops, priests, deacons). English scholars, on the other hand, believed Christians derived this pattern from the synagogue. More recently has prevailed the view that there was no original uniformity, as both of these suggest, but instead “independent trajectories”—varied patterns of leadership (194).

196 He concludes that the references to women in leadership are “not unambiguous.”

196 Altho for several generations it was assumed that presbyteros and episcopos were interchangeable, that is now changing. [confirmed by the important recent work by Alistair Stewart, Original Bishops]. For example, in the Shepherd of Hermas (mid 2nd c.) the bishops seem to emerge out of a larger group of elders (199). This fits, Bradshaw says, the Jewish pattern of Levite, priest, high-priest. [actually, the Jewish model was Levite, priest, chief priest, High Priest. There were many of the first three categories at any time, and only one of the last.]

200 The letters of Ignatius (early 2nd c.) provide the earliest clear evidence for the threefold order of deacon, priest, bishop. By the end of the 2nd c., that threefold ministry gained pre-eminence everywhere.

201-05 the application of priestly language to Christian ministers came slowly. At first it was applied to all Christians, then to the bishop, and then to presbyters as they came to be seen as sharing the bishop’s priesthood. This was especially so as the Church fought heresy and schism. Eventually it came to be seen that ordination and not baptism was when clergy entered the priestly life. [This is similar to biblical Judaism, in which all of Israel is a priestly nation, but there are certain ones called to be Levites, others to be priests, still others “chief priests,” and yet others to be a High Priest, one at a time.]

The OT sacrificial worship came to be seen as fulfilled in a more literal way by the minister-led eucharist (Christ’s sacrifice being re-presented) than by the body of Christ as a whole. [this was a departure from the first-century belief that all of the Body participates in Christ’s sacrifice of himself to the Father, mystically joined (not repeated) at the Eucharist.]

206 Bradshaw argues that before the 4th century there is little evidence of an ordination rite, and that before this time it is more presbyters not bishops doing the ordaining. The Council of Nicaea had to legislate the participation of other bishops, so apparently that was not the previous practice everywhere.

210 Yet after all his insistence on diversity, Bradshaw concludes that “at their core” the ordination rites of the ancient churches reveal “a fairly consistent pattern throughout East and West, including the main themes of the prayers” (210).

212 Bradshaw is insistent that earlier scholars were wrong to say that the early church thought Jesus was returning any minute and so did not establish a church year or times of daily prayer. Here Bradshaw cites Dix, agreeing with him.

The so-called Constantinian revolution did not inaugurate new liturgical practices but enabled some to gain pre-eminence over others.

213 Bradshaw also asserts that at the height of the Constantinian changes the Church was beginning to experience decline, and so these liturgical changes were established with the hope of stemming the tide.

215 The 25th of December was chosen in Rome for the date of Christmas for theological reasons: early Christians believed Jesus lived on earth for an exact number of years, and so the date of his death (March 25) must have been the same as his conception. Thus his birth must have been exactly nine months later, Dec. 25. This date was accepted in northern Italy in order to counteract pagan solstice celebrations on that date.

218-19 Bradshaw suggests that liturgy was enhanced in the 4th c. when the unconverted flooded the churches, in the hopes of educating and impressing them.

219-21 Chrysostom’s sermons show this. He warned the unconverted not to commune unless they were spiritually ready. This led to widespread non-communion by most, and continued as a phenomenon for many centuries. This also produced a new clericalism in which the clergy up front were thought to be doing what was important, and parishioners were there to watch. Bradshaw argues that treatment of Eucharistic elements as powerful talismans comes from pagan influence. [Or were the pagans picking up on a theological type which pointed to the use of matter to communicate divine power, as in Paul’s handkerchiefs and aprons bringing healing (Ac 19.12) and Paul’s warning that taking the bread and wine unworthily could produce sickness and death (1 Cor 11.30)?]

222-29 The movement toward liturgical standardization came from pilgrims travelling to the East, especially Jerusalem, and bringing Eastern practices back to the West. This was the origin of seeing Easter as the time for baptism, baptism itself as participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, and a post-baptismal anointing. The epiclesis and Sanctus and narrative of institution were used separately at different places and finally amalgamated into one Eucharistic rite.

Before the 4th c. few liturgies were written down, but passed down orally. Fear of heresy caused the 4th c. to start transmitting them in written form.

The 4th c. debates about the deity of the Holy Spirit helped make the epiclesis more widespread, as well as the post-baptismal anointing.

Cyril of Jerusalem’s statement in the Mystagogical Catecheses that we can help most the souls of the departed while “the most awesome sacrifice is being offered” helped solidify the belief that the Eucharist was a sacrifice.

229-30 Bradshaw’s conclusion is that much of the final shape of the liturgy solidified in the 4th century for counter-cultural reasons, to resist pagan influences on the Church, but also used pagan language and symbols to more effectively communicate to a people raised in a pagan culture.

The result of this homogenization was the “loss of some sense of local self-identity.”

NEXT: a final assessment of Dix after reading Bradshaw.

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